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THE MEADOW FOLK’S 
STORY HOUR 


BY 

PRUDENCE GRUELLE 

(BLANCHE SILVER) 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

NELL HATT 



THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON SAN FRANCISCO 

LONDON 



DEDICATED TO 

PEGGY AND RICHIE 


AND ALL LITTLE CHILDREN WHO 
LOVE AND CHERISH THE 
MEADOW FOLK 



JUN 10 1921 

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY THE 
GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY 

B58 

©CI.A617288 


PREFACE 


Reading is the most essential subject that a 
child studies. The stories in The Meadow 
Folk’s Story Hour will be sure of a hearty 
welcome both by teachers and pupils. They will 
be a never-ending source of pleasure to every 
normal boy and girl. These stories are told so 
cleverly that they have the charm of action and 
of dialogue in its natural form. They will prove a 
valuable aid to expressive reading and will provide 
splendid material for dramatization. 

The book is designed for the early grammar 
grades and meets every requirement of a well- 
graded supplementary reader. It contains thirty- 
six illustrations in color, which are wonderfully 
adapted to the stories and which cannot fail to 
charm and fascinate children. 

Boys and girls who have not taken excursions 
into the country, by rippling streams, across green 
meadows, and over wooded or rock-strewn hills, 
where 

“ One day in the country 
Is worth a month in town,” 

will be fascinated by the tales that the cricket, the 
iii 


IV 


PREFACE 


frog, the bumble-bee, and their fellows of the 
Meadow Folk have to tell. 

The stories have been selected with the purpose 
of acquainting children with some special trait 
in the life of the Meadow Folk. The lessons will 
teach them that the animals and insects of the 
field are their friends — that there is a reason 
for their existence. There is a joy in the life lived 
by these companions of childhood to which most 
of us are blind, because of lack of appreciation of 
their constant labor for us. If children who read 
this book will learn from it that kindness to the 
Meadow Folk brings its reward, the author will 
be well repaid for her effort. 


LIST OF TITLES 

PAGE 

1. The Meadow Folk’s Story Hour .... 1 

2. Daddy Green Frog’s Tale ..... 6 

3. Twilight Number Two . . . . . .11 

4. Johnny Grasshopper’s Yarn . . . . .12 

5. Twilight Number Three 16 

6. Cheery Cricket’s Story 17 

7. The Fourth Evening 24 

8. Billy Bumble Bee’s Tale 25 

9. The Fifth Twilight Hour 31 

10. Fuzzy Caterpillar’s Tale 32 

11. Twilight the Sixth ...... 38 

12. Sadie Beetle’s Merry Tale 39 

13. Twilight Hour the Seventh 42 

14. Toppy Turtle’s Fable ...... 44 

15. The Next Evening 48 

16. Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad’s Story . . 51 

17. The Ninth Twilight 56 

18. The Tale Finny Perch Related ... 57 

19. The Tenth Evening 62 

20. Lazy Snail’s Story 63 

21. On the Eleventh Evening 68 


v 


vi 

LIST OF TITLES 


22. 

Grandaddy Long Leg’s Yarn .... 

PAGE 

. 71 

23. 

Twilight the Twelfth ..... 

. 77 

24. 

Katy-did’s Merry Yarn .... 

. 79 

25. 

The Thirteenth Twilight .... 

. 87 

26. 

Noddy Tumble-bug’s Tale .... 

. 89 

27. 

The Fourteenth Twilight .... 

. 95 

23. 

Busy Ant’s Story ...... 

. 97 


THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 




THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

No one knew why Daddy and Mamma Green 
Frog had invited them to their little home, down 
near the old mill pond. But all the meadow 
folk were there bright and early to hear what 
Daddy Green Frog had to say. 

There were Johnny Grasshopper and the whole 
Grasshopper family ; Tilly Tumble-bug and her 
sister, Noddy Tumble-bug; Cheery Cricket and 
her little cricket children ; Sadie Beetle ; the 
Beetle twins, Beetie and Reetie Beetle ; Hickity, 
Wickity, Hoppy Toad ; Billy Bumblebee ; Lazy 
Snail ; Willy Measuring Worm ; Grandaddy Long- 
Legs ; Fuzzy Caterpillar ; Busy Ant ; Katy-did ; 
Toppy Turtle ; and Finny Perch, all looking- 
forward to a jolly time. 

Daddy Green Frog greeted his guests with a 
merry croak, hopped out on the highest stone, 
and cleared his throat. 

“ Friends, I have something to say which I 
hope you will like,” he began, in a hoarse voice. 


1 


2 


THE MEADOW FOLKS STORY HOUR 


Daddy Green Frog had sung so loudly the even- 
ing before that his voice was still rough. 

“I knew it!” chirped Johnny Grasshopper, in 
a shrill voice. “Katy-did told me.” 

“Katy-didn’t !” exclaimed Katy-did as she 
settled on a weed beside Johnny Grasshopper. 
“Katy-didn’t !” 

“Well,” laughed Daddy Green Frog, “it does 
not matter. I am glad to see you all here. As 
I said before — ” 

“Hurry! We’re waiting to hear,” chirped 
Cheery Cricket. Then feeling very much ashamed 
for stopping him, Cheery Cricket made an apology, 
and Daddy Green Frog patted her head. 

“You are excused,” he laughed. “That is one 
reason why I’ve asked you here this evening, to 
see if we could not find a way to put our time to 
better use. Instead of quarreling and scolding 
as we generally do, let’s try to find something 
that will send us all to our beds happy. For in- 
stance, why not have a bathing party, or — ” 

“Not for me!” exclaimed Cheery Cricket, who 
hated to get her feet wet. “I would not think of 
a bathing party.” 

“Nor I,” laughed Busy Ant. “Why, I cannot 
ever find a toadstool large enough to cover me 
when it rains. I know I would not enjoy a bath- 
ing party.” 


THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


3 



4 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

“Sure enough !” croaked Daddy Green Frog. 
“How stupid of me! Well, can any one suggest 
something else ?” 

“How would a jumping contest do?” chirped 
Johnny Grasshopper. 

“What good will a jumping contest do me?” 
laughed Willy Measuring Worm. 

Of course every one laughed so loudly that 
Daddy Green Frog rapped his drum for silence. 

“I know!” said Sadie Beetle. “Let’s have a 
story hour !” 

“Who will tell the stories?” asked Hickity, 
Wickity, Hoppy Toad. 

“Why, we will each take turns,” replied Sadie 
Beetle. “We will have one every evening that 
we meet.” 

“Great!” said Fuzzy Caterpillar, wagging his 
head in glee. “I love stories.” 

“So do we!” cried the Grasshopper and the 
Cricket children. “Let’s do that !” 

“And suppose we call it The Meadow Folk’s 
Story Hour,” drawled Lazy Snail, who had not 
even moved since she crawled into the crowd. 

For once in their lives the meadow folk all 
agreed and the question arose as to who would 
begin. 

“Well, should I be asked,” spoke up Grandaddy 
Long Legs, “as long as Daddy Green Frog started 


THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


5 


the plan, we should give him the honor of starting 
the ball rolling.” 

“Where’s the ball ?” exclaimed Tilly Tumble- 
bug, waking out of a doze just in time to hear 
Grandaddy Long Leg’s last words. Everybody 
giggled and Tilly Tumble-bug felt dreadfully 
ashamed of herself for not paying attention. 

Daddy Green Frog, feeling highly honored, 
hopped up on the stone and cleared his throat. 

“Story telling is out of my line,” he laughed, 
“but so long as I’ve been asked to start, I’ll do 
the best I can. Of course it will have to be about 
something that has happened to myself, for I 
never dreamed I would ever be asked for a story. 
I will do the best I can to please you,” and Daddy 
Green Frog pulled down his green coattails and 
straightened his collar and began : 



DADDY GREEN FROG’S TALE 

“One evening, not so very long ago, I was 
sitting on the bank mooning myself when I heard 
the flutter of wings above my head. Looking up 
I spied old Hooty Owl eying me from a low branch 
in the maple tree. 

“‘Good evening, Daddy Green Frog,’ said 
Hooty Owl in the silvery voice he uses when he 
wants to be nice. ‘How are you this evening?’ 

“‘Well,’ I croaked nervously, ‘not so good 
sitting out here,’ and before he knew what I was 
about I jumped out on this very stone. I did 
not exactly mistrust him, for I know it is wrong 
to misjudge folks without cause, but something 
told me to be careful. 

“Well, you should have seen that Owl blink 
his eyes when he saw the distance between us. 
My ! He was angry ! 

“‘I feel I can talk so much better when I can 
see myself in the water,’ I laughed, trying not to 
let him see I was nervous. 


6 


DADDY GREEN FROG’S TALE 


7 


“‘I should think you would want to look at 
yourself to make sure that what I heard about 
you is not true,’ he snapped out. 

Something you heard about me?’ I cried, 
wondering what it could be. 



“‘About you/ replied Hooty Owl, turning his 
head first to one side, then the other ; ‘ if any one 
made such a remark about me, I would scratch 
his eyes out. Just think ! Your own cousin, 
Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad !’” 

“I never said a word to Hooty Owl in my life ! ” 
interrupted Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad, and 
every one laughed. 


8 


THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Of course you didn’t,” said Daddy Green Frog, 
rapping for order. 

“‘Well!’ said I, turning to Hooty Owl, ‘what 
did my cousin say that was so terribly bad ? ’ 

“Hooty Owl craned his neck once more to make 
sure no one was listening : ‘ She said that when she 
used to play with you in the mill pond you had a 
tail, and that your tongue was fastened at the front 
of your mouth with the tip running down your 
throat, instead of being fastened at the back as 
it should be.’ 

“Well, folks,” laughed Daddy Green Frog, 
“it was so very funny that I laughed until tears 
came into my eyes, and old Hooty Owl was almost 
wild, he was so angry. 

“‘Of all things!’ he cried. ‘I cannot see any- 
thing funny about that. I think it is a terrible 
thing to tell about any one.’ 

“‘I am not laughing because what my cousin 
said struck me as being funny,’ I replied; ‘I am 
laughing at you. You, who think you know so 
much ! Why, certainly, when I was a tadpole, 
which every toad and frog is before he is full- 
grown, I had a tail. But when my legs began to 
grow my tail went away. About my tongue! 
It is fastened at the front of my mouth, just the 
way it should be. Perhaps, Mr. Hooty Owl, that 
is why you never hear me talk about my neighbors.’ 


DADDY GREEN FROG’S TALE 


9 


“ 4 I don’t believe you ! ’ exclaimed Hooty Owl. 

“He flew toward the stone I was sitting on, 
when a hawk sailed out of the sky and seized him. 
I ducked under the water because I heard Mamma 
Green Frog calling me, and that is the end of my 
story. 

“Now please do not misunderstand me, friends. 
I am not saying Hooty Owl was going to eat me, 
but I will say I was glad to see Mr. Hawk and to 
hear Mamma Green Frog calling me,” and Daddy 
Green Frog hopped down beside his wife. 


“Well! it was a great joke on Hooty Owl!” 
said Johnny Grasshopper. “A case of the hunted 
after the hunted.” 

“It certainly was a good story,” chirped Cheery 
Cricket; “as Daddy Green Frog says, it’s wrong 
to judge folks too quickly, but I have my doubts 
as to Hooty Owl. He adores Green Frogs, you 
know.” 

“Frogs and grasshoppers are favorite dishes for 
Hooty Owl,” laughed Johnny Grasshopper. “It 
just reminds me of a story I would like to tell.” 

“Fine !” exclaimed Sadie Beetle, “let’s have it !” 

“Oh, not to-night,” yawned Lazy Snail, “I am 
going to bed,” and without a word she drew her 
head into her shell house. 


10 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

“Lazy Snail is right, it is time we were all into 
bed/’ cried Grandaddy Long Legs, and he bid his 
host and hostess good night and went toddling off 
over the meadows. 

The rest of the party followed, after thanking 
Daddy and Mamma Green Frog for the good time, 
and hurried home happy and contented. 

The evening had passed without the usual 
quarrels and left them all feeling merry. 


TWILIGHT NUMBER TWO 


When the sun began to sink behind the hills, 
the next day, there was quite a hurry among the 
meadow folk as they wended their way down to 
Daddy and Mamma Green Frog’s house. 

Johnny Grasshopper was such a funny little 
fellow, they all knew his story would be a good 
one. 

Every one was there but Hickity, Wickity, 
Hoppy Toad, and when she finally arrived, she 
was almost out of breath. 

“Oh, dear,” she panted, “I thought I would 
never get here. I — ” 

“Stopped to clean your teeth,” yelled Katy-did, 
and of course everybody giggled, for it was a known 
fact among the meadow folk that Hickity, Wickity, 
Hoppy Toad did not have a tooth in her head. 

Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad, seeing the joke, 
laughed with the others. 

Johnny Grasshopper, feeling very important, 
brushed the dust from his little gray suit, and 
leaning against a tall blade of grass he greeted 
his friends with a broad,smile. 


11 



JOHNNY GRASSHOPPER’S YARN 

“Down at the bottom of the river under a 
pile of stones there once lived a family of turtles, 
— Mamma and Daddy Turtle and their five good 
children, and one, Tilly Turtle, who was very 
mean and cross. She was always giving her 
parents cause for worry. 

“Now Tilly Turtle was very unhappy and dis- 
contented with her watery home and would sit 
on a log hour after hour above the surface of the 
water watching the gay butterflies that flitted 
over her head, envying them their pretty wings. 

“‘Oh, how I wish I could fly!’ she said, as a 
butterfly lighted on the other end of the log. ‘I 
wish I had a pair of beautiful wings like yours ! ’ 

“‘Well!’ laughed the gay colored butterfly, 
‘all you have to do is to grow them, flap them and 
you can fly as I do,’ and he sailed away leaving 
poor silly Tilly more unhappy than ever. 

“She sat thinking a long time; then down she 


12 


JOHNNY GRASSHOPPER’S YARN 


13 


flopped into the water to try to find out how she 
could grow a pair of wings. 

“‘Why, you foolish little girl!’ cried Mamma 
Turtle when Tilly told her she would rather be a 
butterfly than a common turtle. ‘You had better 
be happy with the blessings that you have and 
not try to be somebody else.’ 

“But as the minutes grew into hours and the 
hours dragged into days and no wings sprouted 
on Tilly’s back, she became more and more un- 
happy. 

“One day when Mamma and Daddy Turtle 
took the Turtle children off to the circus, Tilly 
refused to go and remained at home by herself. 

“She was sitting on the bottom of the river 
feeling very sorry for herself, when in front of her 
dropped a hook on the end of a long line. On 
the end of the hook wiggled a fat worm. 

“If there was one thing Tilly Turtle did love 
it was a worm. She eyed this little fellow greedily. 

“‘Oh ! please do not eat me or you will sprout 
wings and fly away,’ he cried, thinking he would 
frighten Tilly Turtle. 

“‘Sprout wings !’ exclaimed Tilly Turtle. 

“‘Yes, indeed. You will fly so far away you 
will never be able to find your way back home 
again,’ replied the wiggling worm. 

“‘So that is the reason Mamma and Daddy 


14 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Turtle have forbidden us to take the worms from 
the hooks, for fear that we will sprout wings and 
learn to fly. Then I will swallow you whole,’ 
and silly Tilly Turtle opened her mouth and the 
wiggling worm disappeared.” 

“Did she fly?” asked Toppy Turtle, who had 



often sat on a log and envied the butterflies and 
birds because they could fly. 

“Fly!” laughed Johnny Grasshopper. “I 
should say she did. Right out of that water, 
through the air, and landed on the bank with 
such a terrible thud that it stunned her.” 

“And did she really have wings ?” asked Cheery 
Cricket. 


JOHNNY GRASSHOPPER S YARN 


15 


“Certainly not,” laughed Johnny Grasshopper. 
“ Who ever heard of a turtle having wings. Turtles 
were made to swim, not to fly. When Tilly Turtle 
awoke, she found herself in a big basket with other 
turtles, some fish, and a few crabs, and over them 
bent a freckle-faced boy.” 

“What happened then?” asked Toppy Turtle, 
shaking all over in excitement. Only that very 
afternoon he had tried to take a dangling worm 
from Mr. Pike’s mouth. “What became of Tilly 
Turtle?” 

“She found herself dished up in a bowl of hot 
soup,” replied Johnny Grasshopper as he hopped 
down beside his friends, his story ended. 

“It only goes to show,” croaked Mamma Green 
Frog, “ that Tilly Turtle’s Mamma was right. 
Better be content with the blessings that we have 
than always wanting to be something other than 
we are.” 

“You are right!” agreed Cheery Cricket. 
“That reminds me of a story I heard about two 
friends of mine, and if no one has a tale ready for 
next time, I will be glad to tell it.” 

Every one was happy, and bidding Daddy and 
Mamma Green Frog good night, the meadow folk 
hurried home, just as the moon sailed high in the 
sky. 


\ \\ 



TWILIGHT NUMBER THREE 


The next evening the moon failed to put in 
his appearance and the meadow folk kept close 
to their homes, for very few of them owned um- 
brellas and they did not like to get their clothes 
wet. 

But the following evening the sun went down 
behind the hills like a ball of fire, and long before 
Mr. Moon appeared the meadow folk were knock- 
ing at Daddy and Mamma Green Frog’s door. 

They were all anxious to hear Cheery Cricket’s 
story and she was just as eager to tell her tale. 
She greeted her friends with a merry chirp, and 
hopping upon a toadstool began. 


16 


CHEERY CRICKET’S STORY 


Down in the woods at the roots of an old dead 
tree lived Creakity and Reakity Cricket with 
their Mamma and Daddy and their brothers and 
sisters. Creakity Cricket was very happy and 
cheerful, always looking on the bright side of 
everything. Reakity Cricket, her brother, was 
just the opposite. He was sullen and cross from 
morning until night. 

When the cricket home became so crowded that 
there was no room for the new family Mamma 
and Daddy Cricket had found, Creakity and 
Reakity Cricket knew it was time they started 
out into the world to build homes of their own. 

Mamma Cricket packed them each a little lunch 
in a tiny acorn basket, and kissing them good-by, 
wished them luck. 

“Sure we will have luck,” chirped Creakity 
Cricket with a merry laugh. “Why shouldn’t we? 
The day is lovely.” 

“Well!” said her brother while gazing at the 
sky. “It is bright enough now, but who can tell 
how long it will stay that way ? ” and Reakity 


17 


18 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Cricket was so busy looking for a cloud, he fell 
and lost his basket. 

Creakity Cricket picked up her brother’s basket 
and away they went down the road. 

“Have you thought of any place you would 
like to live this winter?” asked Creakity Cricket, 
trying to cheer her brother. 



make my home in that beautiful white farmhouse 
at the top of the hill. Jimmy Cockroach lives 
there and he said the folk are wealthy and have 
everything to make a cricket happy. He says 
there is a great fireplace in almost every room and 
I can have my choice.” 


CHEERY CRICKET’S STORY 


19 


“Oh, isn’t that fine !” cried his sister. “We will 
be neighbors. I made up my mind a long time 
ago, if ever it came my turn to leave home I would 
try my chances in the little brown house just across 
from the white farmhouse.” 

“What! Not the old tumble-down hut just 
across the road?” asked Reakity Cricket. “Why, 
you silly child ! Jimmy Cockroach says those folk 
are very poor.” 

“Being poor is no disgrace,” replied Creakity 
Cricket. “I have always heard such nice things 
said about Granny Greaves. She is very good and 
kind to the three little orphans who live with her.” 

Reakity kicked the dirt with his six little feet 
impatiently. 

“Very well, if you think you will like it. But 
for me, I will take the beautiful house with its 
wealth,” and, bidding his sister good-by, Reakity 
Cricket hurried up the hill and crawled under the 
screen door and into the kitchen of the beautiful 
white house. 

Jimmy Cockroach was glad to see him and 
showed him the rooms for rent above the fire- 
place in the kitchen. 

Reakity Cricket did not exactly care for them 
and Jimmy Cockroach asked Gray Spider to show 
him the rooms in both the dining room fireplace 
and the living room fireplace. 


20 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Needless to say, Reakity Cricket, who thought 
more of show than anything else, liked the looks 
of the living room fireplace the best and rented 
the rooms at once. 

By the time he had placed the furniture to suit 
himself, Reakity Cricket was hungry and tired. 

Reakity Cricket finished his lunch and started 
to read the Cricket paper, when a loud noise was 
heard in the hall. The door flew open and in 
came two long-legged boys. They made such a 
noise that Reakity Cricket could not understand 
a word he was reading. 

From loud talking the boys began to quarrel, and 
such a noise Reakity Cricket had never heard 
before. 

Finally in ran the lady of the house and after 
whipping the quarreling boys sent them, howling, 
to bed. 

Reakity Cricket gave a sigh of relief as the 
door closed on them, but his peace of mind lasted 
only a short time, for the master and mistress of 
the house came into the living room and sat 
down. 

One word brought on another and before long 
they were fighting. 

By this time Reakity Cricket was so unhappy 
he gathered up his things and ran down the side 
of the mantle to the kitchen. 


CHEERY CRICKET’S STORY 


21 


“It’s true,” said Jimmy Cockroach sadly, 
shaking his head. “The folk here are not a happy 
family. Money does not bring happiness unless 
you have happiness in you.” 

But before Reakity Cricket could reply the 
cook saw him. He knew by the look on the cook’s 
face that if she ever set her big foot on him, he 
would never breathe again, so he crawled under 
the screen door into the yard. 

Reakity Cricket never stopped until he reached 
the tumble-down brown house where his sister 
lived. She was glad to see him and after he had 
told her his troubles, she laughed merrily and 
patted his head. 

“Do not worry; come and live with me,” she 
chirped. “You are not surrounded with wealth 
as far as money goes, but you have no idea how 
much love and happiness are here, and after all, 
they are the greatest riches one can possess.” 

“Does Granny Greaves know you live here?” 
asked Reakity Cricket as Granny Greaves and 
her three orphans came into the room. “Will 
she chase us away ? ” 

“I should say not!” said his sister. “When I 
came in this morning, I did not know any one was 
here, but there sat Granny Greaves in the corner, 
knitting. And what do you think she told the 
children when they came home from school?” 


22 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Reakity Cricket shook his head and drew back 
in the shadows. 

“She told them I was here and bid them take 
care not to frighten me away, as a cricket on the 
hearth brings good luck to the house.” 



“Mighty fine!” exclaimed Reakity Cricket. 
“But, sister, you would bring luck to any one 
who lived near you, because you are so cheerful. 
Many a time I have heard Daddy Cricket say, 
‘cheerfulness and luck always go hand in hand,’” 
and he smiled and kissed his sister. They still 
live in the brown house, but it is not tumbled- 
down any more, for good luck came to Granny 


CHEERY CRICKET’S STORY 


23 


Greaves and her orphans. She built a new house 
and Creakity and Reakity Cricket have the most 
beautiful house you ever saw. 

“That’s a splendid story,” said Daddy Green 
Frog, shaking Cheery Cricket’s hand. “One with 
a great thought in it that we never should forget. 
Cheerfulness and luck go together.” 

The meadow folk all agreed it was far better 
to be cheerful than sad, and bidding each other 
good-by, they went home, each wondering who 
would be called upon to tell the next story. 


THE FOURTH EVENING 


When the next moonlight night came the 
meadow folk gathered by the mill pond. Every 
one was eager to tell a story, so Mamma Green 
Frog suggested they draw straws. 

“Of course we have no straws,” said Mamma 
Green Frog, “but grass will do,” and hopping 
over to the bank she pulled some grass and let 
the meadow folk take their choice. “The shortest 
blade wins,” she said, and every one laughed when 
Billy Bumble Bee pulled the lucky straw. 

“Well,” he buzzed, “I do not say I can do as 
well as Daddy Green Frog, Johnny Grasshopper, 
or Cheery Cricket, but I will do my best,” and 
flying to a clover blossom he scratched his head 
with his feelers and shook the pollen from his 
feet. 


24 



BILLY BUMBLE BEE’S TALE 

Once upon a time there lived in Beeville a 
family of bees. All of them were great workers, 
except one, Aleck Bee. He was very lazy and 
would sit around all day doing nothing, while 
his brothers and sisters helped their Mamma and 
Daddy. 

This worried Mamma and Daddy Bee but the 
more they would talk to him the lazier he grew. 

Aleck Bee was a lazy drone ; he knew it, and he 
did not seem to care. 

One day his sisters and brothers returned home 
from their work with tears in their eyes. 

“Something dreadful has happened,” buzzed 
the oldest Bee boy. “The Queen Bee has put 
up a sign in the village saying all drones must 
leave Beeville before sundown to-morrow or lose 
their heads.” 

Mamma Bee turned pale and Aleck Bee began 
to cry. 


25 


26 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“No use crying now, it’s too late,” said Daddy 
Bee. “It’s just what he needs to make a real bee 
out of him, and the sooner he learns to work the 
better off he will be.” 

Early the next morning Mamma Bee tied a 
slice of bread and honey in a red handkerchief for 
Aleck Bee and told him to be good and kind to 
every one he met on his way. 

Aleck Bee promised and flew away from Beeville, 
hate raging in his heart against his Queen. 

But the day was sunny and bright and Aleck 
soon forgot his troubles. He chased butterflies, 
and begged them to stop and play with him. 

They were too busy and warned him about 
idling away his time. 

He stopped to chat with the ant family, but 
Mamma Ant called her children away and set 
them to work. 

“Surely every one is not busy,” buzzed Aleck 
Bee, and flew to Miss Cricket’s house. She, like 
her friends, the ants and butterflies, had no time 
for play and Aleck Bee began to grow lonesome, 
and wished that he might go home to his brothers 
and sisters once more. 

This he knew could not be, so he tried to be 
brave and sat down on a log and ate his lunch. 
But as daylight began to fade, Aleck Bee grew so 
lonesome and homesick that he began to cry. 


BILLY BUMBLE BEE’S TALE 


27 


“Here! Here!” laughed a merry voice, and a 
big black ant came running from the other end 
of the log. “What in the world is the trouble?” 

Aleck Bee wiped his eyes with his feelers and 
told Mr. Black Ant his troubles. 

“Oh, well,” laughed Mr. Black Ant, patting 
Aleck on the back. “No reason to weep. That 
will do no good. We will see what we can do,” and 
he asked Aleck Bee to spend the night with him. 

Aleck was grateful and thanked Mr. Black Ant. 
He picked up the tools that were on the log and 
carried them home for Mr. Black Ant. 

It was the first time Aleck Bee had ever done a 
kindness for any one, but it made him feel very 
happy. 

All next day Aleck Bee worked beside Mr. Black 
Ant, and when night came he flew to the meadow 
and brought back a bucket of fresh honey to 
Mamma Black Ant and her children. 

It was the first day Aleck Bee had ever worked 
and the first time he had ever gathered honey. 

He was a hungry bee that night and enjoyed his 
supper, because he worked for it. 

One always enjoys the things he works for 
far more than something that is given to him. 

One afternoon not long after, when Aleck Bee 
was in the woods after honey, he found a little 
bee sitting on a blade of grass crying. 


28 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

He told his trouble to Aleck Bee and said that 
he was a drone. Aleck Bee felt sorry for the 
little buzzer and took him back to Black Ant’s 
home. 

Black Ant and his family welcomed the new 
drone bee and gave him a bed. The next day 
he worked with Aleck. 

“I think you should start a drone-bee village, 
Black Ant,” buzzed Aleck Bee, “for you certainly 
know how to make folks love to work.” 

It was true, for there was not a day passed that 
some drone bee did not stray into Black Ant’s 
place. They soon began to call the village Drone- 
ville. 

At last, one day, when word reached Drone- 
ville that two big bears were planning to tear 
down the old bee home, the drone bees became 
very unhappy. They had long ago forgiven their 
Queen for sending them away and wondered what 
they could do to help her in the time of trouble. 

Black Ant, who was very proud of his family, 
said they should go in a body and help their 
Queen. 

This pleased the drones and away they sailed, 
reaching their old home just as the two greedy 
bears were about to tear down the village. 

That army of Drones fought with their little 
spears, surrounded those two bears, stung them 


BILLY BUMBLE BEE’S TALE 


29 


through their thick fur, and sent them howling 
into the forest. 

When the Queen Bee came out to thank the 
army for saving her village, she w T as surprised and 
delighted to find it was made up of the drone bees 
she had thrown out of her court, and offered them a 



place in her army. Aleck Bee and his friends, who 
had learned to w r ork, accepted her offer and to-day 
there is not a drone bee in the village. As soon 
as a little bee shows signs of laziness, Aleck Bee 
sends him to his friend and helper, Mr. Black Ant. 

Billy Bumble Bee cleared his throat and wiped 
his face with his feelers. 


30 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“ A splendid story,” drawled Lazy Snail, “one 
we should profit by. To succeed one must learn 
to love his work.” 

A laugh passed through the crowd, for every- 
body knew that Lazy Snail did not like to work, 
but of course no one said a word. 

“It reminds me of a tale I would like to tell 
next time,” cried Fuzzy Caterpillar, “but it is 
time we were on our way,” and, laughing merrily, 
the meadow folk bid Daddy and Mamma Green 
Frog good night and went home in the moonlight. 


THE FIFTH TWILIGHT HOUR 

All day the rain came down on the flowers and 
grasses, and the little meadow folk who had grown 
to love their meetings began to think they were 
not going to be able to have another, when the 
clouds rolled away and left the sky all blue and 
gold and crimson. The sun peeked from behind 
a bank of gray clouds and shone so warm on the 
meadows that the grasses and flowers soon dried 
and the merry little meadow folk wended their 
way to Mamma and Daddy Green Frog’s house. 

“Well !” laughed Fuzzy Caterpillar after greet- 
ing his friends, “I thought for a while I was not 
going to get here.” 

“Nor I,” said Cheery Cricket. “I must say 
I do not care much about hopping around in the 
damp grass.” 

“Neither do I,” drawled Lazy Snail. 

“That reminds me,” said Fuzzy Caterpillar, 
“I was to tell a story to-night. I will not tell the 
one I had planned. This will be more fitting,” 
and smoothing out his fuzzy suit, he began. 


31 



FUZZY CATERPILLAR’S TALE 


One dark, cloudy day, down in the meadow, 
Woolly Worm was sitting looking up at the clouds 
that were sailing above his head, when over the 
broken twigs stepped Snippy Spider, his best 
friend. 

“Hello there, Woolly Worm ! How do you like 
this weather?” asked Snippy Spider. 

“Not at all,” said Woolly Worm. 

“Nor do I,” cried a third voice, and Woolly 
Worm and Snippy Spider turned around to find 
Nippy Wasp sitting by them. “It is going to 
rain and I am a long way from home without an 
umbrella.” 


32 


FUZZY CATERPILLAR’S TALE 


33 


“ Either the sun burns up my web or the rain 
tears it down,” said Snippy Spider. “It is dread- 
ful the way things go in this meadow !” 

“Indeed it is !” exclaimed Woolly Worm. 
“Well,” buzzed Nippy Wasp. “I hate rain 





and if I had my way the sun would never go under 
a cloud.” 

“I am glad you do not have your way,” replied 
Woolly Worm, “for I would die in this woolly suit 
if the sun shone all the time.” 

“Can you tell me of any one in this meadow 
who really enjoys a rainy day?” asked Snippy 
Spider. 


34 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Yes, there is one!” said a fourth voice, and 
Willy Angle Worm poked his head up out of the 
dry, hot ground and greeted the three friends. 
“I love wet days !” 

“Perhaps you would not if you had to spin a 
new web after every shower. You do not live 
in a web house, you know.” 

“No, I do not,” replied Willy Angle Worm. 

“Nor build a mud house in a tree,” piped Nippy 
Wasp. 

Willy Angle Worm laughed, and said that while 
he lived in a mud house he did not live in a tree. 

“Well, if you had to wear a woolly suit as I do,” 
said Woolly Worm, “you would not want it to rain 
and drag around in the mud. And I do not like 
hot days either ; my suit is too heavy.” 

“I must say,” laughed Willy Angle Worm, “I 
am so busy I do not have time to worry about 
the weather.” 

“I do not like very hot days, but when it is hot 
I do all the work I can underground in the damp 
earth ; and when a cloudy day comes I am ready 
for it. I always spend cloudy days looking over 
my work from the outside.” 

“Pooh!” exclaimed Woolly Worm. “I should 
like to know what you can do. Why, even I 
cannot do very much and I am much larger than 
you are.” 


FUZZY CATERPILLAR’S TALE 


35 



“One cannot always be judged by size,” laughed 
Willy Angle Worm. “Precious things are done 
up in small packages, you know.” 

“Who ever heard of a worm working?” snapped 
Nippy Wasp. 


“Who ever heard of a lazy worm,” replied Willy 
Angle Worm, and wiggling out of his house, he 
hurried to his work in the garden. 

The three friends watched Willy Angle Worm 
until he went behind a cabbage plant in the gar- 
den, then they looked at each other and wagged 
their heads. 

“The sun never bothers me unless I begin to 


36 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


think how warm it is and I never mind the rain 
until I get to thinking how wet it is,” said Woolly 
Worm. 

“ I think,” laughed Nippy Wasp, “we had better 
follow his advice,” and bidding each other good-by, 
the three friends started home just as the storm 
broke over the meadow. 

At the first ray of sunshine, Snippy Spider 
peeked out from her dew-covered web-house and 
found four little insects caught in her wires. What 
if she did have to mend several broken threads ? 
There was more than enough food to pay her for 
the trouble, and Snippy Spider was glad that it 
had rained. 

Nippy Wasp came out after the rain and started 
in to finish her little home. How much easier 
it was to get the damp mud to stick than the dry 
dirt she had been using, and before she knew it 
the little house was finished. 

Poor Woolly Worm, who had never dared to 
climb a tree on a clear day for fear of being eaten 
by a bird, looked for a place to hang his cradle 
house and after making sure there was not an 
enemy in sight he crawled up the tree trunk and 
out on a long limb. 

He laughed with glee as he sat there. There 
was not a thing to frighten him ! The birds 
were under cover; Woolly Worm worked fast 


FUZZY CATERPILLAR’S TALE 


37 


and in a short time there hung a little cradle 
house. 

No one ever heard the three friends complain 
again about life in the meadow. 

Fuzzy Caterpillar stretched his long neck and 
slid down the blade of grass beside his host and 
hostess. 

“A good tale,” exclaimed Grandaddy Long 
Legs. “Only this morning I heard some folk 
finding fault with this meadow. But we will 
have to agree with Willy Angle Worm; if put to 
the test none of us could do any better.” 

“Right you are,” cried Tilly Tumble-bug. 
“This world would be better off if each would 
try to make the most of himself.” 

“Yes, and stop fault finding. I do it myself,” 
laughed Cheery Cricket. “It is a hard lesson 
to learn but it will make one happy after he has 
learned it.” 

Daddy Green Frog shook hands with his guests 
and jumped into the water. 


TWILIGHT THE SIXTH 


“Do you know,” croaked Daddy Green Frog 
when on the sixth evening his guests arrived, “we 
have not chosen a story-teller for this evening?” 

“I think it was because Fuzzy Caterpillar’s 
story was so true/’ laughed Cheery Cricket. “I 
felt guilty myself for I grumbled when I found 
it was raining.” 

“You are not the only one,” laughed Fuzzy 
Caterpillar. “If the truth were known, most of 
us felt the same way about the rain.” 

“Not I,” said Noddy Tumble-bug. “No one 
ever hears us complain about rainy weather. We 
can always roll larger balls on damp days than 
we can on dry days.” 

“So we can,” said Sadie Beetle, and every one 
laughed. They all remembered the first evening 
they had met, when Tilly Tumble-bug dozed. 

“Well,” laughed Mamma Green Frog, “who 
tells one to-night?” 

No one answered ; then Sadie Beetle crawled out 
on the end of a twig and offered to take the evening 
if no one else had a tale ready. 

She was greeted with a cheer, and feeling very 
important, Sadie Beetle smoothed down her little 
brown dress and began this little story. 

38 


SADIE BEETLE’S MERRY TALE 

Bobby Acorn was a little acorn boy who lived 
on the branch of a great tall oak tree that stood 
near a high board fence. He had long since 
grown tired of his home and one day the little 
brother acorn who slept on the twig next to Bobby 
Acorn became angry and gave Bobby such a 
push that he let go his hold on Mamma Oak 
Tree’s arm and dropped to the ground. 

There he lay day after day in the cold rain until 
a little boy, on his way home from school, picked 
up Bobby Acorn and threw him over the high 
board fence. 

“Well! Well!” exclaimed Bobby Acorn, getting 
up quickly and brushing the mud from his little 
brown shell, “I am glad I landed on this side of 
that fence ; I have always wanted to see what was 
over here.” 

“Cut! Cut!” clucked a voice at his side, and 
Bobby Acorn looked up into Yellow Hen’s face. 
“What in the world are you?” 

“An acorn boy,” laughed Bobby Acorn, scratch- 
ing his rough head with his long fingers. “Don’t 
you know what an acorn is?” 

39 


40 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

“Good to eat,” clucked Yellow Hen, giving his 
head a peck. 

“No! No!” he cried. “No one but pigs eat 
acorns.” 

“Then you should take care or the family of 
pigs who live here will make short work of you,” 
said Yellow Hen as she went strutting out of 
sight. 



sorry he had left his nice leafy home. “If I 
could only go back again, I would never quarrel 
or be bad again.” 

But the longer Bobby looked at the high board 
fence the higher it seemed to grow. 


SADIE BEETLE’S MERRY TALE 


41 


Before dark, back to their home came Daddy 
Pig and his family, eating everything they could 
find as they went. 

Bobby Acorn saw them, and rolled under a 
board to hide. Late that night, when the pig 
family were asleep, Bobby rolled from under the 
board and down the hill to the sidewalk. 

“It serves me right !” exclaimed the poor little 
acorn boy, “ for not being content with what I had.” 

The next morning along came a bright-eyed 
little girl, who picked up Bobby Acorn and carried 
him home. Her daddy took his penknife and 
ripped off part of Bobby’s rough cap and cut out 
his little brown shell suit. 

Bobby was frightened until he heard the little 
girl laugh with glee over the dear little brown 
basket daddy had whittled out of Bobby Acorn. 

The poor little acorn who once thought he was 
good for nothing but to feed to the pigs found 
that he was mistaken and he often wished that he 
might go back and tell his brothers and sisters, 
for he was very proud of the ribbon bow tied to 
his hands, and he loved his little mistress. 

“That goes to show,” buzzed Billy Bumble Bee, 
“that no matter how useless we all may feel there 
is always something for us to do. And being able 
to make those around us happy is a great gift. 
That was a fine story.” 



TWILIGHT HOUR THE SEVENTH 

The next day the meadow folk, happier than 
ever before, walked through the grass to the old 
mill pond. 

Daddy and Mamma Green Frog were glad to. 
see them. 

Lazy Snail was the last of the little meadow 
folk to arrive. 

“I suppose you stopped to lock your house 
before you started,” croaked Hickity, Wickity, 
Hoppy Toad, and everybody laughed. Lazy Snail 
laughed too, for many times they had spoken to 
her about carrying her house with her wherever 
she went. 

“I find it is much easier to take my house on 
my back than to lock it up every time I go out, 
and it is a good thing I do, or I would not be here 
now. At the foot of the hill I met a huge Ant- 
eater and I crawled back into my shell house and 
hid until he went by.” 


42 


TWILIGHT HOUR THE SEVENTH 


43 


“What a lucky person you are,” said Busy Ant. 
“Your house saved you from harm.” 

“Yes, indeed!” squeaked Toppy Turtle. “I 
am proud of my shell house, too. If no one else has 
a story this evening, I will tell mine.” 

“Great!” croaked Daddy Green Frog, and 
Toppy Turtle crawled slowly over the edge of the 
log and shaking the water from his back cleared 
his throat and began. 


TOPPY TURTLE’S FABLE 


How proud old Mr. Sun was when he looked 
out over the gardens that spread below him ! 

“Why, had it not been for me, there would not 
be any vegetables or flowers at all. Every ray 
of golden light and heat that I send on the earth 
warms the ground and makes them grow and bear. 
No one could get along without my aid. Look at 
the beans and peas that I have made to grow 
on those vines. Who could do that but me?” 
and he rolled up a little higher in the sky. 

“Oh, of course !” exclaimed Mr. Wind, to whom 
Mr. Sun had been talking. “But you might at 
least give others some credit. We bring down the 
rain clouds to sprinkle and help things grow.” 

“Yes, you do,” said Mr. Sun, “but I am the 
one to thank for the beautiful gardens.” 

This was too much for Mr. Wind. He blew 
away, and vowed that he would stay away all 
day and leave Mr. Sun alone. So off he went 
to the mountains, where he found old Jack Frost 
picking the icicles out of his long white hair, and 
told him of their friend’s boast. 

“What a great joke I could play on him,” 
laughed Jack Frost, as he shook out his robes so 


44 


TOPPY TURTLE’S FABLE 


45 



i 


46 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


that snowflakes fluttered around his feet. “It 
might be a good thing too. It might cure him of 
boasting so much/’ and he whispered something in 
Mr. Wind’s ear that made him shriek with laughter. 

“Great!” he cried. “Let us try it this even- 
ing. It might cure him,” and Mr. Wind and 
Jack Frost spent part of the day planning how 
they would do it. 

“When he gets up in the morning and throws 
out his hot sunbeams they will just burn every 
plant until it droops and dies,” laughed Jack 
Frost. “Then, I wonder if he will boast.” 

As soon as Mr. Sun dropped into his bed be- 
hind the hills that night, Jack Frost called his 
tiny Frost Imps together. They spread a great 
blanket of frost over all the gardens, and then 
hurried back to their home in the mountains. 

When Mr. Sun awoke he knew something was 
wrong, for the grass, the flowers, and all the 
vegetables that had been so green the night be- 
fore were silver color. Then he remembered how 
Mr. Wind had laughed when he had boasted of 
his great work for growing things, and instead of 
getting up for the day Mr. Sun crept back to his 
cloud bed and stayed there three hours longer. 

When he crawled out again Mr. Wind had 
gathered up the silver frost blanket and had carried 
it away. The very thought of what might have 


TOPPY TURTLE’S FABLE 


47 


happened gave Mr. Sun a terrible fright. From 
that day to this he has never been heard to boast, 
and he is always ready to give others credit for 
what they do. 

Toppy Turtle cleared his throat, scratched his 
little head with his front foot, crawled over to the 
end of the log, and jumped into the water. 

“Glad you like it,” squeaked Toppy Turtle, and 
waving his feet at his friends, he swam under the 
stones. 

Every one paid their respects to their host and 
hostess and, chatting merrily, scampered off 
across the meadows. 


THE NEXT EVENING 


“Glad to see you, friends!” croaked Daddy 
Green Frog as he and Mamma Green Frog hopped 
upon the stone to welcome their guests. “Who 
is the lucky one this time ? ” 

“It must be Noddy Tumble-bug, Lazy Snail, 
Finny Perch, Katy-did, Busy Ant, or myself,” 
drawled Grandaddy Long Legs. 

“Here! Here!” laughed a hoarse voice, and 
with a great big jump Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy 
Toad hurried down to the water’s edge. “I have 
not been heard yet.” 

“Well! Of all things,” laughed Mamma Green 
Frog, shaking Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad’s 
claw. “Sure enough, you have not been asked 
to tell a story. Suppose we choose Hickity, 
Wickity, Hoppy Toad for this evening.” 

The meadow folk all cheered and Hickity, 
Wickity, Hoppy Toad began fanning herself with 
a broad leaf. 

“If I am to talk to-night, I will just simply have 
to take this warm dress off,” she laughed. “You 
see the hot sun after the rain made my clothes 
shrink.” 

“Certainly, take it off!” cried the meadow 


48 


THE NEXT EVENING 


49 


folk, and Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad began to 
pull and twist and twist and pull. Rip ! went 
her gown down the back. Hickity, Wickity, 
Hoppy Toad pulled some more and her little faded 
dress began to come off. She took her hind leg 
and tucked it under her forearm, gave a jerk, and 
out came the sleeve of her gown. She pulled off 
her skirt with her mouth, and there she stood in a 
pretty new dress. 



“ Quite clever! One never need worry about 
her wardrobe when she can carry her clothes 
with her. Shall I take your old gown?” cried 
Grandaddy Long Legs. 

“Thank you,” croaked Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy 
Toad, and right before the meadow folk, Hickity, 
Wickity, Hoppy Toad opened her mouth and 
swallowed the bundle of clothes. 

“Well! Of all things!” cried Finny Perch, 
flipping the water with her tail. “I have never 
seen that done before !” 


50 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Why, Mamma Green Frog and I do the very 
same thing when our suits grow too tight for 
us,” laughed Daddy Green Frog. “But I sup- 
pose it looks funny to folks who have never seen 
it done before.” 

“I have lived in this meadow a good many 
years, and I never saw a toad change her clothes 
before,” laughed Busy Ant. 

“I suppose that is because you have always 
been afraid to get close enough to watch me,” 
laughed Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad. “I am 
glad those days are over, for it’s far better to be 
friends,” and Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy Toad 
hopped upon a stone and croaked this little tale. 


HICKITY, WICKITY, HOPPY TOAD’S 
STORY 

Lady Bug tied her little bonnet under her funny 
little chin and hurried down the road. 

“ Where to now?” asked Willy Walking Stick, 
running out of his little house at the foot of a tree. 
“Are you going far?” 

‘Oh, yes, indeed!” replied Lady Bug. “I am 
going out to see the world. Now that I think of it, 
should you see any one knocking on my door, you 
might tell them I shall not be home before night.” 

“Well,” said Willy Walking Stick, “if you are 
going very far, you had better take an umbrella 
with you.” 

“An umbrella!” exclaimed Lady Bug. “Why, 
Willy Walking Stick, what is the matter with 
your eyesight ? This is a wonderful day ! Look 
at the lovely blue sky and the glorious sunshine. 
Do you think I would spoil it by carrying an 
umbrella over my head ? No thank you, friend ; 
I am not like some of my friends, always worry- 
ing about their beauty, that is only skin deep. 
I am not afraid of freckles, but thank you just the 
same,” and Lady Bug started on. 


51 


52 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Wait a minute!” cried Willy Walking Stick. 
“You do not understand me ! I am not thinking 
about the sun ! I am thinking about the rain. 
Before night we shall have a heavy shower and 
you will spoil your new dotted dress,” and Willy 
Walking Stick ran back into his little house and 
soon came out with an umbrella which he asked 
Lady Bug to carry. 

“That is just like you,” laughed Lady Bug. 
“Always thinking of some good deed to do. But 
I cannot see what makes you think it is going to 
rain. Why, there is not a sign of a rain cloud !” 

“I may be an old Walking Stick, Lady Bug, 
but there is nothing the matter with me,” replied 
Willy Walking Stick gently. “But whenever I 
see the sorrel drooping its leaves as it does this 
morning, I know it is going to rain hard before 
sunset.” 

Lady Bug laughed and hurried on down the 
road, leaving Willy Walking Stick wagging his 
head and looking sad. 

Lady Bug went singing on her way, stopping 
to chat with all her friends. She visited every 
one she knew, and had one jolly day of it, but when 
she started home, she found the blue sky filled 
with great dark clouds and not a ray of sunshine 
anywhere. 

She tried to hurry, but the twigs held her back ; 


HICKITY, WICKITY, HOPPY TOAD’S STORY 53 


so spreading her little wings, Lady Bug lifted 
herself into the air. The wind whipped her first 
one way, then another and, with a cry of distress, 
Lady Bug dropped back to the ground again. 
The rain began to patter on the leaves and flowers, 
and Lady Bug with a weary sigh crawled under a 
leaf to wait until the shower was over. 

“Bad weather,” chirped a merry voice, and 
Lady Bug, who was very nervous, jumped with 
fright. Then she laughed and shook Black 
Cricket’s hand. 

“Yes, it’s raining quite hard, and I am a long 
way from home without an umbrella,” and Lady 
Bug laughed to hide her nervousness. 

“Whoever would think of carrying an umbrella 
with her on such a lovely day as it started out 
to be this morning ? I have none either,” chirped 
Black Cricket. “I never thought of a storm.” 

“It serves me right,” said Lady Bug. “Willy 
Walking Stick told me it was going to rain, but 
I thought it was just one of his jokes and made 
fun of him when he said he could tell by the sorrel 
leaves.” 

“Well, he was right,” sighed Black Cricket. 
“The clover leaves always turn up and the sorrel 
plants droop their leaves. I always consult them 
about the weather and they have never made a 
mistake so far.” 



54 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

Lady Bug waited until the storm had passed; 
then she hurried home, stopping at Willy Walking 
Stick’s house to say that she was sorry she had 
not heeded his warning. 

From that time on Lady Bug never left her 
house without first running out to her tiny garden, 


where she had a row of sorrel and clover planted, 
to see just what their leaves were doing. 

“The very idea!” exclaimed Katy-did. “I 
have wondered why it was Parasol Ant always 
carried her umbrella with her. She probably has 
some of those flowers growing in her yard. I am 
glad to know that ! I will not forget it.” 

“Listen,” laughed Toppy Turtle. “You do 


HICKITY, WICKITY, HOPPY TOAD’S STORY 55 


not mean to say that it is true, do you ? I mean 
about the clover and sorrel plants.” 

“Certainly,” replied Hickity, Wickity, Hoppy 
Toad. “Of course it is true !” 

“Then your tale was doubly good !” exclaimed 
Daddy Green Frog. “For it’s news to me.” 


THE NINTH TWILIGHT 

The meadow folk chatted merrily as they 
scampered over the grass to Daddy and Mamma 
Green Frog’s house. 

“We did not choose any one for this evening, 
did we?” asked Mamma Green Frog after her 
guests were all seated. 

“I do not believe we did,” croaked Daddy 
Green Frog. “Some of you who have not told 
a story, step forward.” 

Some seconds passed, then Finny Perch gave the 
water a thud with her tail and offered her services 
if no one else was ready. 

“Of course it will have to be a story about some 
of my water friends,” she laughed, “for I do not 
know much about your meadows. You see the 
only time we water folk hear anything about you 
is when some worm comes calling and tells us.” 

“Oh, I think a tale about some of the water 
folk would be great ! ” cried Cheery Cricket. “ We 
never get a chance to learn about you folk.” 

So it was voted, and Finny Perch flipped her 
tail again and began : 


58 


THE TALE FINNY PERCH RELATED 

Once upon a time there lived down at the 
bottom of the big ocean a tiny little Crab Boy 
— Carlie Crab every one called him, and they 
certainly had to call him several times before 
this sleepy, lazy, little selfish crab would pay 
any attention to them. Carlie Crab would back 
out of his way to avoid doing a kindness to any 
one. He would rather eat than do anything else, 
except sleep, and Carlie Crab was never happier 
than when he was curled up on the sand, dreaming. 

One day his neighbor, Mr. Hermit Crab, called 
Carlie Crab and asked him if he would go on an 
errand for him. 

“Yes,” snapped Carlie, who was too sleepy to 
talk any more than was needed. “What is it ?” 

“I should like to have you run over to Mrs. 
Oyster’s school and tell her I just overheard some 
fish folk say they were going to gather oysters 
to-day,” replied Mr. Hermit Crab. “Tell her to 
be careful, and just as soon as I finish teaching 
this class of little crabs how to walk backward, 
I shall come over and keep guard for her.” 

“Why cannot she look out for herself?” asked 


57 


58 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Carlie Crab, who had never heard of such a thing 
before. “How can you tell her ?” 

“Why,” laughed Mr. Hermit Crab, “oysters 
have no eyes, you know, and we have. Of course 
they can hear, but sometimes the fish swim up so 
quietly that the oysters do not have time to close 
their shell doors, and the fish eat them. When 
I am there and see a fish swimming toward an 
oyster, I just crawl up and pinch the oyster and 
he closes his shell before Mr. Fish gets him. Now 
run along like a good crab boy.” 

Carlie Crab did run along, but not far, for he 
was too sleepy to move. Finding a nice sleeping 
spot, Carlie Crab decided he would take a nap. 

Carlie Crab was just nodding when he spied a 
crowd of queer-looking folk turn from behind a 
rock and start toward him. Before Carlie Crab 
knew what they were about, Mr. and Mrs. Bar- 
nacle and their family of little ones had climbed 
upon his back. 

“Just the place I have been looking for!” ex- 
claimed Mr. Barnacle. “We can settle on this 
crab’s back and see the world without any trouble.” 

“I always did want to travel,” laughed Mrs. 
Barnacle, and she quickly caught hold of Carlie 
Crab with her little feelers, and behold, the family 
of Barnacles were holding fast to Carlie Crab’s 
back. Shake as hard as he could, Carlie Crab 


THE TALE FINNY PERCH RELATED 59 



60 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


could not shake them off, for once glued to any- 
thing Barnacles remain there until they die. 

Carlie Crab was so ashamed he hurried over to 
Mrs. Oyster’s schoolroom, arriving just in time to 
save Mrs. Oyster herself from a great big ugly 
looking fish. He not only told Mr. Hermit Crab’s 
message, but Carlie Crab stayed in that school 
of oysters, and every time a fish swam toward 
them, Carlie Crab would run up and pinch the 
oysters. Down in his little crab heart, Carlie 
Crab knew that if he had been busy like most of 
his water friends, Mr. and Mrs. Barnacle and 
their family would not have caught him asleep. 

Finny Perch splashed the water with her fins 
and swallowed a gnat. 

“Fine!” cried Cheery Cricket. “That is the 
first time I ever knew Crabs walked backward.” 

“Yes, they do,” laughed Toppy Turtle, “and 
I know it to be true that they are the best body- 
guards the Oysters ever had.” 

“I am glad Barnacles do not live on land,” 
laughed Lazy Snail, “for my back would be 
covered all the time.” 

“Oh, no,” croaked Mamma Green Frog. “They 
may call you lazy, but I know you are not. You 
are just slow. But who would not travel slow 
with a house on his back? ” 

“That makes me think !” exclaimed Grandaddy 


THE TALE FINNY PERCH RELATED 61 


Long Legs, “I have been going to ask you why 
you always carry your house around with you.” 

“It is no secret,” laughed Lazy Snail. 

“Then suppose you tell us at our next meeting,” 
said Katy-did. 

Lazy Snail laughed, and said she would be glad 
to tell them if they cared to hear her story. 

“I never talk about myself,” she said, “but 
if you would really like to hear, I will tell you,” 
and holding her head proudly, Lazy Snail bid 
her friends good-by and hurried off across the 
meadow. 


THE TENTH EVENING 


All day long there fell a slight mist that made 
the grass wet, and the meadow folk kept close to 
their little houses. 

There w T as a cry of joy when the rain stopped 
and the sun rolled out from behind the clouds. 
The meadow folk met again to hear Lazy Snail’s 
story. 


LAZY SNAIL’S STORY 


One bright day a few years ago, when Nellie 
Snail was out walking through this meadow, she 
met a stranger Snail who had chanced to stop in 
the meadow to rest. 

“Good morning, Stranger!” said Nellie Snail 
politely, for Nellie Snail was just as polite as any 
little Snail could be. “And, pray, may I ask who 
you are ?” 

“To be sure,” replied the stranger. “ I am a 
snail like yourself and my name is Merry Snail.” 

“A Snail !” said Nellie Snail, “you surely are a 
queer looking snail.” 

“Not any more so than you!” said Merry 
Snail. “But I must be on my way.” 

“Please tell me more about yourself,” exclaimed 
Nellie Snail. 

Without a word Merry Snail started away, 
but Nellie Snail, thinking she was being made fun 
of, crawled in front of the stranger and stopped her. 

“What class of folk am I like?” cried Nellie 
Snail. 

“Like that class of lazy snails that I have heard 
live in this meadow,” replied Merry Snail, “and 


63 


64 THE MEADOW FOLKS STORY HOUR 


I have come here to teach you a few things you 
should know.” 

“Indeed!” exclaimed Nellie Snail. “If such 
be the case, I warn you this meadow does not 
need you. I suppose you feel quite proud with 
that old shell on your back.” 

“There! There!” laughed the strange Snail, 
“I did not come here to quarrel. I want to help 
you.” 

“By having us carry our shells on our back!” 
exclaimed Nellie Snail. “If that is it you may as 
well go back where you came from.” 

“You do not understand,” said Merry Snail 
kindly. 

“I do not want to !” cried Nellie Snail, as she 
started away. Just then she heard the swish of 
wings overhead and just had time to crawl under 
a leaf. Here she hid until Merry Snail called her. 

“He has gone. Come out,” laughed Merry 
Snail. % 

“Where did you hide ?” asked Nellie Snail, look- 
ing around. There was not another leaf in sight. 

“Hide!” laughed Merry Snail. “Why, in my 
house, of course,” and Merry Snail quick as a 
flash drew her head and long body back into the 
shell she had been carrying on her back. 

When she stuck her head out again she was 
laughing merrily. 


LAZY SNAILS STORY 


65 


“Why didn’t you tell me before?” cried Nellie 
Snail. 

“Because you did not give me a chance,” said 
the stranger. 

Nellie Snail was ashamed of the rude way in 
which she had spoken to the stranger. “I am 



sorry for what I said, but I am glad that bird 
did not eat you.” 

“Now I will tell you where I hid,” said Merry 
Snail, shaking hands with Nellie Snail. “And I 
forgive you. This shell, that I carry on my back, 
is my house. When danger comes near me, I 
crawl inside and hide until it passes.” 


66 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


Nellie Snail went all around Merry Snail and 
looked at her shell house, and then she asked 
Merry Snail if she would tell her where she 
found it. 

Merry Snail took Nellie Snail down to the shore 
and found her a new shell house. Before long 
every snail in the meadow was carrying a shell 
house on her back. 

“That is how I came to have a shell house and 
why I carry it with me every place I go,” said 
Lazy Snail. “Nellie Snail was none other than 
myself,” and bowing, she crawled down among 
her friends. 

All the meadow folk cheered and shook Lazy 
Snail’s hand. 

“I am sure you have found it a very good thing 
to do,” laughed Busy Ant. “I would not mind 
being able to carry my house around with me.” 

“I wouldn’t be without a shell on my back,” 
exclaimed Toppy Turtle. 

“Neither would I,” replied Lazy Snail, “but it 
taught me a great lesson, not to judge too quickly, 
and not to get angry.” 

“That may be why you are called Lazy,” 
laughed Cheery Cricket. “ You are slow to answer 
and they call that slowness, laziness.” 

“No,” replied Lazy Snail. “I have learned 
the best thing to do when I feel angry is to stop 


LAZY SNAIL’S STORY 


67 


talking, and count ten, ten times. By that time 
I have forgotten why I was angry.” 

“ Great ! ” exclaimed Daddy Green Frog, and 
every one laughed. “ Suppose we choose Gran- 
daddy Long Legs for our next story.” 

Grandaddy Long Legs accepted, and the meadow 
folk bid Daddy and Mamma Green Frog good 
night and went home. 



ON THE ELEVENTH EVENING 


Grandaddy Long Legs was the first to arrive at 
Daddy and Mamma Green Frog’s house the next 
evening. 

“Come early and avoid the rush is a good idea !” 
croaked Daddy Green Frog. “But, all joking 
aside, I think it is a good plan for the story-teller 
to be early. It gives him time to get his breath 
before he begins.” 

“Well,” sighed Grandaddy Long Legs, “that 
did not worry me in the least, but I have had a 
rather busy day.” 

“Chasing cows?” asked Cheery Cricket, who 
hopped in just in time to hear Grandaddy Long 
Legs’ last remark. 

“Yes,” replied Grandaddy Long Legs. “I lost 
my leg trying to find one cow.” 

“Oh my!” cried the meadow folk, crowding 
around their friend. “ How ? ” 

“Oh, a boy!” replied Grandaddy Long Legs. 
“He caught me, and asked where his cows were. 


ON THE ELEVENTH EVENING 


69 


I pointed the way the cows went and the bad boy 
held me so fast that I pulled off one of my legs 
trying to get away.” 

“You mean to tell me you have lost one of your 
legs, and can still laugh and talk about it !” cried 
Mamma Green Frog. 

“What is the use of crying?” laughed Gran- 
daddy Long Legs. “It still leaves me seven.” 

“Yes, but how in the world can you get along 
without that other leg?” asked Toppy Turtle. 

“Well !” laughed Grandaddy Long Legs cheer- 
fully, “I have still seven legs left, and if I should 
lose one this evening I would still be grateful 
for the six that would be left. If I should lose 
another in the morning I could walk on five and 
would count myself lucky.” 

“You have more patience,” said Mamma Green 
Frog, “than all of us. I do not see how you do 
it!” 

“Well, at first I found it hard, but now,” laughed 
Grandaddy Long Legs, “I am all right. Of 
course it is rather slow work to grow a new one, 
but how nice and new it will be ! Then, when you 
folk ask my age, I will have to say, 'Part of me is 
so many years old, and one leg is so many days 
old,’” and the old fellow laughed so heartily the 
meadow folk could not help but see how brave 
and cheerful he really was. 


70 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Is everybody here?” he asked. “If so, I 
will begin my story,” and after looking around 
Grandaddy Long Legs crawled upon a mushroom 
and began. 


GRANDADDY LONG LEGS’ YARN 


It always pays to face danger with a smile, and 
that is just what Tiny Grey Mousie did. 

One day his Mamma sent him to market to 
buy some things for their Sunday dinner. She 
warned him not to stop along the way to play 
with any of the other children. 

Tiny Grey Mousie was on his way home with his 
basket full of good things when he saw two Grass- 
hopper boys playing leap-frog, and he stopped to 
watch them. 

He played so long he was very tired. When 
he saw the sun going down behind the hills, he 
quickly gathered up his basket and started for 
home. He was ashamed to think he had dis- 
obeyed his Mamma. 

He had not gone far when he met Miss Puss. 

“Hello there !” cried Miss Puss, and Tiny Grey 
Mousie’s heart beat so loudly against his little 
gray coat that he felt sure Miss Puss could hear it. 

“What have you m your basket?” 

“Oh, kind Puss!” replied Tiny Grey Mousie, 
“it is food for my brothers and sisters.” 

“Give it to me,” cried Miss Puss. “I am very 
hungry !” 


71 


72 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 



GRANDADDY LONG LEGS’ YARN 


73 


Tiny Grey Mousie’s little teeth began to chatter. 
He knew if he did not hand his basket over to 
Miss Puss, she would not only take it away from 
him, but she would eat him as well. So Tiny 
Grey Mousie tried to act brave. 

“Certainly, good friend! Let us find a nice 
cool spot under some tree and have a picnic ; I am 
hungry myself.” 

“Very well!” laughed Miss Puss. Down in 
her heart she could not help but admire Tiny 
Grey Mousie for his pluck. “Had you refused, 
I should have eaten you. We will find a place,” 
and Miss Puss took hold of the other side of the 
basket and away they went. 

They had gone but a short way when they met 
Tom Cat, who stopped them to find out what was 
in the basket, and why Miss Puss was in the 
company of a mouse. 

Grey Mousie was scared. What chance had 
he with two cats, his worst enemies ? But without 
showing his fear, he invited Tom Cat to join them, 
and away they trotted until they came to a cool 
spot down by the river under a big maple tree. 

“You set the table and I will get the things out 
of the basket,” said Tiny Grey Mousie, and he 
handed the Cats the papers off the top of his 
basket to spread on the ground as a lunch cloth. 
Miss Puss and Tom Cat spread the papers and 


74 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


laid four stones on the four corners. They were 
both so busy trying to figure out how they could 
cheat each other when it came to eating Tiny 
Grey Mousie that they did not see him run up 
the tree, and when they turned around and saw 
him out on the limb, they ordered him to come 
right down. 

“Certainly,” replied Tiny Grey Mousie. “But 
have you decided which of you will eat me ? If 
not, I think I can help you.” 

“How so?” asked Tom Cat. “You are mine. 
I am much stronger than Miss Puss. I will fight 
for you !” 

“That would be too bad,” squeaked Tiny Grey 
Mousie. 

“Just the same I will fight for you !” exclaimed 
Miss Puss. “I found you first.” 

“I tell you!” cried Tiny Grey Mousie, “I will 
give myself up to the one who can jump over that 
moon,” and Tiny Grey Mousie pointed to the 
picture of the moon out in the middle of the 
stream. 

“Not a bad idea!” exclaimed Miss Puss. 
“Suppose we try it. First over wins.” She 
looked at Tom Cat and said, “You look as if you 
were a better jumper than I, but let us try it. If 
I lose, I will not complain.” 

The two cats chose the starting point and both 


GRANDADDY LONG LEGS’ YARN 75 

started off at the same time. Plunk! Plunk! 
They went out into the middle of the stream. 
Such splashing and yelling was never heard before. 
Tiny Grey Mousie had to laugh. But he lost 
no time, and jumping from the limb across the 



stream he went home as fast as his legs could carry 
him. 

Tiny Grey Mousie never disobeyed his Mamma 
again, but he never forgot that he had won the 
fight by being brave and cheerful. 

Grandaddy Long Legs stretched his seven re- 
maining legs and crawled down from the mush- 


room. 


76 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Well!” laughed Cheery Cricket. “As my 
mother would say, ‘A bird in the hand is worth 
two in the bush.’ Those cats deserved to lose 
Tiny Grey Mousie, and I am glad they did !” 

“So am I,” buzzed Billy Bumble Bee. “Even 
if he does visit my bee wells and take my honey. 
I am always ready to shout for the fellow who can 
face a danger bravely.” 

“Yes,” drawled Lazy Snail, “your story is a 
good one.” 

“Well,” chirped a cricket baby, “I am glad 
Tiny Grey Mousie has learned it does not pay to 
disobey.” 

Everybody laughed, and paying their respects 
to Mamma and Daddy Green Frog, the meadow 
folk went home. 



TWILIGHT THE TWELFTH 

What a glorious evening it was ! All the colors 
of the rainbow were seen in the old mill pond, 
giving the deep shadows under the trees a purple 
color. 

“Is it not a wonderful close to the day!” ex- 
claimed Johnny Grasshopper. “I have never 
seen such weather at this time of year.” 

“Well,” laughed Noddy Tumble-bug, “I have 
seen many a day just like it, but I have been too 
busy to notice the beauty.” 

“That is one thing I think this story hour has 
done for us all,” croaked Daddy Green Frog. 
“Made us see the beauties of this meadow as we 
have never seen them before.” 

“That just reminds me of a story I would like 
to tell sometime !” exclaimed Katy-did. 

“Now’s the time!” cried Mamma Green Frog. 

“If I remember correctly,” croaked Daddy 
Green Frog, “we did not select any story-teller 

77 


78 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


for this evening, so I am sure, Katy-did, we shall 
be glad to hear your tale.” 

Katy-did crawled out on the tip-end of a leaf 
that hung over the water, and nodding to her 
friends, she told this merry tale. 


KATY-DID’S MERRY YARN 


Down in the meadow, once upon a time, there 
lived a little Wasp — Wappy Wasp, they called 
him. Now the meadow folk thought anything 
Wappy Wasp did not know was not worth know- 
ing, and night after night, just before it grew dark, 
they would gather down by Wappy Wasp’s house 
to hear the tales he would tell about the things 
he had seen that day in his travels. 

“How wonderful it must be to be able to travel 
the way you do ! ” sighed Mamma Ant. She had 
never been out of the meadow herself. “All I 
get to see is the few feet around the stream here, 
and I do grow very tired of it.” 

“It must be hard not to have wings so one can 
fly around,” buzzed Wappy Wasp. “Travel is 
such an education to one.” 

“So it is,” said Earth Worm, who never lost a 
chance to lie at Wappy Wasp’s feet and listen to 
his stories. “What wonderful sights you must 
have seen ! ” 

Wappy Wasp’s chest swelled with pride. He 
liked nothing better than to be the center of 
attraction. 

“Well,” he laughed, “I think there is not very 
much in this world that I have not seen.” 


79 


80 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“How perfectly wonderful !” cried Mamma 
Ant. 

“Yes, it is wonderful/’ replied Wappy Wasp. 
“Why, I really can say without the least doubt 
that I have seen everything there is to see in this 



world, thanks to my wings,” and Wappy Wasp, 
with a proud air, shook out his wings and showed 
them to his friends. “Yes, I have seen every- 
thing there is to see.” 

Timmy Grasshopper had just come up in time 
to hear Wappy Wasp’s last boast. “How nice! 
And how much more learned than the rest of us 
you must feel.” 


KATY-DID’S MERRY YARN 


81 


“Oh, indeed yes!” exclaimed Wappy Wasp, 
wagging his little head. “Travel teaches one so 
much.” 

“And you say you have seen everything in 
this world?” continued Timmy Grasshopper. 

“Everything that is worth seeing,” replied 
Wappy Wasp. “ I have been all over this meadow, 
through the woods, over the hills, and even down 
into the city. I have seen it by day and I have 
seen it by night, so I can truthfully say I have 
seen everything you might care to ask me about.” 

“Is not that wonderful? ” drawled Timmy Grass- 
hopper. “I have never been beyond the hill over 
there, but I am sure I have seen something you, 
Wappy Wasp, have never seen in all your travels.” 

At this, Wappy Wasp straightened up proudly. 
It was the first time any one had dared question 
him, and he certainly was not going to give in to 
such a fellow as Timmy Grasshopper. His first 
thought was to rush at him and sting him ; then 
he changed his mind and laughed with a loud 
buzz. 

“So, foolish fellow!” he cried, “you challenge 
me? Well! What is there that such a stay-at- 
home as yourself has seen that has passed by me ? 
Out with it. I doubt you ! What is there in this 
world that’s to be seen that I have missed in my 
travels ?” 


82 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

“A river that turns from gold to silver!” ex- 
claimed Timmy Grasshopper. 

How the meadow folk did prick up their ears 
at that. Here was just plain old common Timmy 
Grasshopper, who had not been beyond yonder 



hill, yet he boasted of seeing a magic river. It 
struck them all as very funny. 

“Neither have you,” exclaimed Wappy Wasp. 
“There is no such river except in fairy tales.” 

“But I have seen it myself, a river that turns 
from gold to silver,” replied Timmy Grasshopper 
quietly. “Have you never seen it?” 

“Well !” laughed Wappy Wasp, “I cannot say 
that I ever have.” 


KATY-DID S MERRY YARN 


83 


“Yet you sit here and try to make these little 
meadow folk unhappy with their lot,” chirped 
Timmy Grasshopper. “ Why, friends ! If Wappy 
Wasp has not seen the magic river I speak of, then 
he is no better than the rest of us.” 

“You will have to prove it to me,” cried the 
angry Wasp, getting browner in the face than 
ever. “ I will not believe it nor will the others here, 
unless you show us the wonderful river of which 
you speak.” 

“ Very well,” laughed Timmy Grasshopper, who 
never stayed out of humor with any one very long, 
“but, first, I must tie a leaf over your eyes so you 
will not know which way I take you.” 

Mamma Ant did not believe Timmy Grass- 
hopper’s words, but she, with the others, allowed 
Timmy Grasshopper to tie the leaf over her eyes. 

“Now hold on to each other’s hand,” whispered 
Timmy Grasshopper. 

Mamma Ant took hold of Earth Worm’s tail and 
Wappy Wasp took hold of his head and Timmy 
Grasshopper took hold of Wappy Wasp’s feelers 
and off they went. 

Timmy Grasshopper smiled to himself as he 
led them to a stem of a plant and out on a leaf, 
then dropped to the ground with them down beside 
the river that ran through their meadow home. 

Here Timmy Grasshopper stopped and untied 



KATY-DID’S MERRY YARN 


85 


the leaves from his friends’ eyes. Behold ! The 
river before them was shining gold from the last 
rays of the setting sun. 

No one said a word, but Timmy Grasshopper 
could see a look of surprise on every face. 

“Now then,” chirped Timmy Grasshopper, 
“if you sit here a few minutes until the moon 
comes up, this very river which sparkles gold now 
will change to a wonderful silver before your very 
eyes,” and with a merry chirp Timmy Grass- 
hopper flapped his wings and flew away. 

Wappy Wasp had nothing to say. For once in 
his life he had been outwitted, and he made up 
his mind if he ever got hold of Timmy Grass- 
hopper, he would shut him up in his cell house. 
But glad to say, Timmy Grasshopper was too 
witty, and never hopped near when he saw Wappy 
Wasp. 

Wappy Wasp soon moved his little Inn near the 
town. He felt better with the hill between them. 

But Timmy Grasshopper spent a great part of 
his time showing the beauties of the meadow to 
his friends. Before long the tired, bored feeling 
left Mamma Ant and Earth Worm and they began 
to love their life. And many an evening they sat 
beside Timmy Grasshopper on the shore of the 
magic river and watched its waters turn from gold 
to silver. 


86 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Well!” exclaimed Cheery Cricket, “that was 
a splendid story ! I was wondering myself how 
he was going to prove it.” 

Katy-did laughed and crawled down the leaf 
among her friends. 

“Well, I had not even thought of a story until 
I heard Noddy Tumble-bug say she had never 
stopped to look at the beauty of this pond before,” 
said Katy-did. 

“Very good,” croaked Daddy Green Frog, 
“and simply goes to prove what I said about the 
story hour helping us. It has made us learn to 
know and love the things of beauty around us. 
Now whom may we hear from to-morrow even- 
ing?” 

“Well, if Busy Ant is not afraid of being the 
last one on the list, I will take the story hour,” 
laughed Noddy Tumble-bug. 

“I am willing,” cried Busy Ant, and bidding 
each other good night the meadow folk crawled 
over the fast-falling leaves to their little homes. 



THE THIRTEENTH TWILIGHT 

Things looked dull for the meadow folk. For 
quite some time they were not able to get to Daddy 
and Mamma Green Frog’s house, because of the 
rain and wind. The meadow folk kept close to 
their little houses. When the first bright evening 
came it was a crowd of happy little meadow folk 
that wended their way over the carpet of brown 
and gold and red leaves to the Frog house. 

“And it is our thirteenth meeting!” laughed 
Lazy Snail. 

“So it is,” laughed Noddy Tumble-bug, “and 
I chose this meeting to tell my story. If you do 
not like it you can blame it to the unlucky 
number.” 

“I never pay any attention to such things,” 
croaked Daddy Green Frog. 

“To me it is a lucky number,” cried Cheery 
Cricket, “for I finished my little house to-day and 
now I am ready for winter.” 


87 


88 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 

“All I hope is that I will not miss telling my 
story,” squeaked Busy Ant, “for I have been 
planning it for ever so long.” 

“You are to be the next and last one,” said 
Daddy Green Frog. 

Noddy Tumble-bug crawled out on a stone so 
she could see everyone, and told this merry tale. 


NODDY TUMBLE-BUG’S TALE 


The day was very warm and Susan Hop Toad 
jumped first on a log, then under it, trying to find 
a cool place. 

“Oh, dear,” she sighed, “I cannot stand this 
any longer !” 

“What is it?” asked Dippy Spider, who had 
been watching Susan Hop Toad. “What seems to 
be the trouble ?” 

“The hot sun,” said Susan Hop Toad. “I am 
tired of this old tree trunk where I live, and every- 
thing in this meadow, its trees, grass, and flowers. 
As far as you can see there is nothing but dust, 
dust, dust. What fun can a hop toad have when 
she gets covered with dust and dirt every time 
she moves ?” 

“The meadow is rather dusty,” replied Dippy 
Spider. “I had not noticed it before, because I 
have been so busy on my new web house. It 
does not seem to bother me.” 

“Perhaps it would not bother me so much if it 
were not for this old tight dress,” croaked Susan 
Hop Toad. “Unless it rains enough to keep my 
skin moist, it shrinks so tight that it pinches me. 
I would be as happy as can be if I could live in a 


90 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


place like Tippy Green Frog’s home. Every 
time she feels her skin growing tight, she flops 
back into the water, while I have to sit in this 
dusty hot meadow waiting for the water to be 
sent to me.” 

“If I felt that way about the meadow, I would 
move,” squeaked Dippy Spider. “Why do you 
not go and visit your cousin, Tippy Green Frog?” 

“A good idea!” exclaimed Susan Hop Toad 
with the first sign of happiness Dippy Spider had 
seen on her ugly face for some time. “I never 
thought of that ! I believe I will go to-day. I 
will not only pay her a visit, but I will move in 
with her,” and before Dippy Spider could say 
another word, Susan Hop Toad hopped into her 
house and came out dragging a signboard behind 
her. 

“I will put up this Tor rent’ sign,” she croaked, 
“and you may rent the place to any one who 
wants it. I will never want it again.” 

“Perhaps I’d better keep it awhile,” began Dippy 
Spider, when Susan cut her short. 

“No indeed,” she cried. “Rent it! I will 
never come back here to live. The fresh cool 
waters of the pond for me,” and croaking merrily, 
Susan Hop Toad hopped down the long hill to the 
pond, leaving Dippy Spider sadly shaking her 
little head. 


NODDY TUMBLE-BUG’S TALE 


91 


Tippy Green Frog was delighted to see her 
cousin and asked her down into her little home 
which she had built among the rocks under the 
water. 

“Take off your things and make yourself at 
home/’ croaked her cousin, after shaking Susan 



Hop Toad’s claw. “I have often wondered why 
you never came to pay me a visit.” 

“I have come to stay!” laughed Susan Hop 
Toad. 

“Good!” laughed Tippy Green Frog. “I have 
been lonesome these last few days. No rain, no 
new food, and it always makes us water children 


92 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


unhappy. But you will brighten things up for 
us. Now we will go down and have some food,” 
and Tippy Green Frog flopped off the grass into 
the water. Susan Hop Toad, fearing to show she 
was not used to water, tried to do as her cousin. 
She flopped into the water after her, but had to 
swim back to the surface and get a breath of air 
before she could speak. 

“Oh, you will get used to that after a time,” 
laughed Tippy Green Frog. “Water is as easy 
to breathe as air.” 

“You mean to say, — ” but Susan Hop Toad 
did not know how to take air under water and 
nearly choked. Tippy Green Frog called her 
friends, and they pulled Susan Hop Toad upon the 
bank. 

“No, indeed!” she cried when she found her- 
self once more on dry land. “No more water 
homes for me. I am going back to the meadow,” 
and taking her bonnet, Susan Hop Toad hopped 
up the hill and back to her own little home at the 
foot of the old tree. 

Dippy Spider was happy to see her and wel- 
comed her home. 

“You will never hear me complain again,” 
she croaked. “I would rather live in this meadow 
with all the dust and dirt than stay one day in 
that pond ! Why, I could not breathe there !” 


NODDY TUMBLE-BUG’S TALE 


93 


“Certainly not,” laughed Dippy Spider. “If 
you and I had been made for a water home, we 
would not live in the meadow. How long could 
Tippy Green Frog and my cousin, Water Spider, 
live on dry land ?” 

“Enough for me,” croaked Susan Hop Toad, “I 
will neVler envy another person as long as I live,” 



and she never forgot her promise. She still rents 
the little house under the root of the old tree, and a 
happier little Hop Toad never lived than Susan. 

“The thirteenth day, and the thirteenth story,” 
laughed Cheery Cricket. 

“Yes,” drawled Grandaddy Long Legs, “it 
never pays to envy others.” 


94 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“I should say it does not,” laughed Sadie Beetle. 
“For generally the very things you envy them for 
having are useless for you.” 

“Friends,” croaked Daddy Green- Frog, “the 
next meeting will be the last for the season, I 
think, for I heard the robins and the wren family 
talking about going south.” 

“When Robin Red-breast goes south, it is time 
to begin putting up the doors for the winter,” 
chirped Cheery Cricket. 

“I wish we had some way of telling just when 
winter will come,” said Lazy Snail. “We might 
be ready for it.” 

“Yet we might worry over it,” croaked Mamma 
Green Frog, “so I think it’s better after all not 
to know.” 

“Quite right,” laughed Busy Ant. “All I ask 
is a fine evening to-morrow, so I can add my tale 
to this story hour,” and the meadow folk all trotted 
home. 



THE FOURTEENTH TWILIGHT 

Busy Ant’s wish was granted. The fourteenth 
day was a beautiful sunny day, and when the sun 
went to rest, the merry meadow folk hurried 
down to the old mill pond. 

“I have never felt so sleepy in all my life as I 
have to-day,” said Fuzzy Caterpillar as he joined 
his friends. 

“That accounts for you being tardy, I suppose,” 
croaked Daddy Green Frog. “I have felt rather 
lazy myself to-day.” 

“Can’t say, I’ve been exactly lazy,” Fuzzy 
Caterpillar replied. “I finished up my cradle 
bed and I had to work hard and fast to do it.” 

“No wonder you are sleepy !” exclaimed Cheery 
Cricket. “It always makes me sleepy when I see 
a nice soft bed.” 

“Old winter can come now just as soon as he 
wants too,” laughed Busy Ant. “I am ready and 
my storehouses are filled with good things to eat,” 

95 


96 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Talk about storehouses,” buzzed Billy Bumble 
Bee, “I never had such a supply of honey and 
food on hand before. I am ready too.” 

“Maybe this story hour has something to do 
with it!” croaked Mamma Green Frog. “I find 
myself planning how I shall pass the long winter 
months when our mill pond is covered with ice. 
The thought of winter does not bother me as it 
used to in years gone by.” 

“Nor I,” laughed Fuzzy Caterpillar; “but come 
on, Busy Ant, and spin off your yarn, or I shall go 
to sleep right before your eyes.” 

Busy Ant patted Fuzzy Caterpillar’s coat with 
her feelers and crawled out on an old piece of dead 
grass. 


BUSY ANT’S STORY 


There was quite a stir among the little folk of the 
meadow when they awoke one morning, late in the 
fall, to find queer-looking gray lines stretched from 
one flower to another. 

No one had seen them the evening before and 
no one could tell what they were. 

“It looks as if some one had put them up for a 
washing,” chirped Jimmy Grasshopper. 

“I think it very strange,” exclaimed Mamma 
Cricket. “I have lived here long enough for 
everyone to know that this is my home. Only 
last evening I rocked the children to sleep in 
that very spot !” 

“You surely did,” cried Daddy Cricket. “I 
sat reading the Cricket Hour and there was not a 
line in sight then !” 

“I wonder who could have been here,” chirped 
Jimmy Grasshopper. “I shall find out,” and he 
hopped to a bush and looked at the queer lines. 
“It looks like a jumping rope,” he laughed. 

“Jumping rope indeed!” said Mrs. Beetle, 
running up to see what the folk were looking at. 
“Can you never think of anything but jumping? 
I am glad we are not all like you.” 

97 


98 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


“Here, here, friends,” laughed Daddy Cricket, 
who did not like to hear them quarrel. “I hardly 
think it is a jumping rope myself, but do not 
fuss about it. They are such queer things I should 
like to know who put them there.” 



“Do you suppose Mrs. Spider could have put 
them there?” asked Mrs. Beetle. 

“Sure enough,” laughed Mamma Cricket. 
“They do look like her wires. But what in the 
world was she thinking about to string them all 
over the meadow ? We must ask her about this.” 

The idea suited all except Jimmy Grasshopper. 
While the others followed Mamma Cricket to 


BUSY ANT’S STORY 


99 


Mrs. Spider’s house, Jimmy Grasshopper sat down 
to think. He always likes to find out things for 
himself. 

“The best way to find out is to follow the wire 
up and see where it begins,” and Jimmy Grass- 
hopper followed up the gray lines until he reached 
the edge of the meadow. Here under a bush on a 
toadstool sat a queer little elfin dressed in dark 
brown clothes. In one hand he held a queer- 
looking black thing on his knee and with the other 
he held something black against his ear. 

“Here! here! wait a second,” he called when 
he saw Jimmy Grasshopper before him. “Here 
is a fellow now who will help me, I am sure.” 

Jimmy Grasshopper wondered to whom the elfin 
was talking so loudly. He could not see any one 
in sight. 

“Well, well, Jimmy Grasshopper,” laughed the 
elfin, setting the black thing down on the grass. 
“You are just the person I have been trying to 
get. Last night Mrs. Spider stretched these 
telephone wires for the fairy folk and one of them 
has just called me to say old winter has left his 
home in the north and will be here soon. You 
can help me warn our friends.” 

“So that is what those queer wires are for !” ex- 
claimed Jimmy Grasshopper, and with an excited 
chirp he hurried off to warn his meadow friends. 


100 THE MEADOW FOLK’S STORY HOUR 


They all ran off to see the queer-looking tele- 
phone and to thank the elfin and the fairies. Then 
they went over to Mrs. Spider to thank her for 
her help ; and bidding each other good-by they 
crept into their little homes and \yaited for winter. 


Busy Ant finished and scrambled down off the 
dead grass. 



“Well, you could not have chosen a better story 
for this time of year,” laughed Grandaddy Long 
Legs, “for before long we will have to scamper off 
to our beds.” 

I wonder if that is the reason you always 
find so many gray web wires stretched over the 
meadows in the fall,” said Cheery Cricket. 


BUSY ANT’S STORY 


101 


“ I think so,” croaked Daddy Green Frog. 
“Why, this very morning I saw them swinging in 
the sunlight above my head. They were drawn 
from the tree to that cat-tail over there. I was 
just about to touch one when a bird flew over and 
broke them all down.” 

“ Well !” croaked Mamma Green Frog, “a good 
time we have had these last days, and it all goes 
to show that it pays to be always happy. There 
is not one among us who is not ready for old winter, 
in case the fairies should call this evening to say 
he is on his way. We have told our little tales 
that made us all happy and time always passes 
faster when one is merry. Next spring we will 
begin our story telling sooner and all who care 
to come may join us.” 

The meadow folk did not want to leave Daddy 
Green Frog’s house that last evening, but Fuzzy 
Caterpillar could not stay awake any longer, while 
Lazy Snail was so sleepy she could hardly drag 
her house after her. So bidding Daddy and 
Mamma Green Frog good-by, the meadow folk 
all scampered home. 

Before long a blanket of snow lay on the ground, 
but under it the happy little meadow folk slept 
and dreamed of the happy days to come. 





















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